After over eight months on the sideline, František Brutovský returned to racing this weekend when he entered the Riverside Baja. He certainly had some rust to shake off, but he looked comfortable back behind the wheel of his Ford F-150 EVO.
Brutovský set the 12th fastest time overall, good for fourth in Ultimate. While he was the last finisher and two other cars in the class retired on the first special, reaching the finish was already a victory in itself. It wasn’t entirely problem-free for him, though, as he completed the race with just three tires after one went down in the closing stretch.
He had been out of racing since last August when he fractured his vertebra in a rollover at the Hungarian Baja. The injury prevented him from racing the Dakar while recovery required multiple operations. Brutovský was cleared in March and started testing in early April.
Miroslav Zapletal won both the class and overall, the latter ahead of Grzegorz Gąsiorowski. With Lőrinc Mészáros in third, the overall podium had three different category on each step.
Juraj Varga, one of the many Quad riders who switched to driving after their class got axed from the Dakar Rally, scored a podium in T4N (the National counterpart to SSV).
Tomas Tóth won in UP, which is limited to a 100 km/h speed limit.
The Riverside Baja was the second round of the 2025 Hungarian Cross-Country Rally Championship. Brutovský plans to run the rest of the season, with the next race being the Italian Baja in July (hosted in tandem with the FIA World and European Baja Cups).
Overall results
Ultimate
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Navigator | Team | Vehicle | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 200 | Miroslav Zapletal | Marek Sýkora | Offroadsport | Ford F-150 EVO | T1+ | 3:18:54.3 | Leader |
| 2 | 5 | 202 | Pál Lónyai | György Tóth | LP Racing | LPR Porsche Macan | T1.1 | 3:34:50.5 | + 15:56.2 |
| 3 | 8 | 204 | Zdenek Porizek Jr. | Pavel Vaculik | Zdenek Porizek Jr. | Ford F-150 | T1.1 | 3:42:15.9 | + 23:21.6 |
| 4 | 12 | 203 | František Brutovský | Josef Racina | MING Racing Sports | Ford F-150 EVO | T1+ | 3:56:36.2 | + 37:41.9 |
| DNF | DNF | 201 | Tomasz Kobylecki | Jakub Moliter | Tomasz Kobylecki | Hummer H3 Evo VII | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | DNF | 205 | Csaba Bakonyi | Dávid Marcell Kankovszky | Garilla Racing | Nissan Mavara | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
Challenger
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Navigator | Team | Vehicle | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 300 | Lőrinc Mészáros | Albert Horn | M1 Motorsport | G Rally OT3 | T3 | 3:30:15.0 | Leader |
| 2 | 6 | 301 | Marcin Swiatko | Artur Janda | Marcin Swiatko | Can-Am Maverick X3 | T3 | 3:36:41.8 | + 6:26.8 |
| 3 | 13 | 302 | Richárd Bruzsa | Máté Tóth | Speedy Motorsport | Bedu Pro X3 | T3 | 4:01:36.9 | + 31:21.9 |
| DNF | DNF | 303 | Martin Benko | Anton Zboran | Norwit Racing | Taurus T3 Max | T3 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | DNF | 304 | Csucsu | Mark Mesterházi | Speedy Motorsport | Herrator Inzane X3 | T3 | DNF | N/A |
SSV
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Navigator | Team | Vehicle | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 400 | Balázs Molnár | Norbert Liszi | M1 Motorsport | M1 X3 | T4N | 3:39:23.8 | Leader |
| 2 | 10 | 401 | Szabolcs Kollár | Dorottya Kollár | M1 Motorsport | Can-Am Maverick X3 | T4N | 3:45:10 | + 5:46.7 |
| DNF | DNF | 403 | András Lukács | Zoltán Palotai | Speedy Motorsport | Yamaha YXZ1000R SS | SSV2 | DNF | N/A |
T4N
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Navigator | Team | Vehicle | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 500 | Grzegorz Gąsiorowski | Kasia Szałęga | Grzegorz Gąsiorowski | Polaris RZR Pro R | T4N | 3:26:49.1 | Leader |
| 2 | 4 | 501 | Zoltán Garamvölgyi | Antal Takács | Garilla Racing | Garilla X3 | T4N | 3:31:08.7 | + 4:19.6 |
| 3 | 9 | 506 | Juraj Varga | Radovan Schneider | Varga Motorsport Team | Polaris RZR Pro R | T4N | 3:44:03.1 | + 17:14.0 |
| 4 | 11 | 503 | Péter Tóth | Márk Salamon | M1 Motorsport | Can-Am Maverick XRS | T4N | 3:52:20.4 | + 25:31.3 |
| 5 | 14 | 507 | Tamás Szántó | Anikó Szántó | Garilla Racing | Garilla X3 | T4N | 4:19:37 | + 52:48.7 |
| 6 | 15 | 505 | János Hári | Jánosné Kati Hári | Garilla Racing | Can-Am Maverick X3 | T4N | 8:04:30.7 | + 4:37:41.6 |
| DNF | DNF | 502 | Szilárd Kánnár | Dávid Béres | Garilla Racing | Can-Am Maverick X3 | T4N | DNF | N/A |
TH
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Navigator | Team | Vehicle | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 600 | Piotr Brakowiecki | Tomasz Chmielewski | Piotr Brakowiecki | Dacia Duster | TH | 8:41:55.4 | Leader |
UP
| Finish | Number | Driver | Navigator | Team | Vehicle | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 700 | Tomas Tóth | Emil Kiss | Tomas Tóth | Can-Am Maverick X3 | 3:59:48.6 | Leader |
| 2 | 703 | Norbert Németh | Pálma Németh | Garilla Racing | Can-Am Maverick X3 | 4:09:33.1 | + 9:44.5 |
| 3 | 701 | Nándor Gergő Nagy | Kata Csányi | Garilla Racing | Polaris RZR Pro R | 4:15:58.1 | + 16:09.5 |
| DNF | 702 | Attila Csató | Zoltán Hajas | Garilla Racing | Segway Villain SX10 | DNF | N/A |
Featured image credit: MING Racing Sports
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